We left out camp early today as we had a bit of exploring to do. We drove up the stunning Takaka hill. I thought we hadn’t been here before, but we drove up here on our Apple maps driving job. We turned off at Takaka and followed the coast up to Totoranui. It was tarseal for some of the way then turned to a rutted gravel path. As I always say, the best things are at the end of the gravel road.

At the end was a stunning golden sandy beach. There was also a doc camp there, but it wasn’t overlooking the sea so we decided not to stay. So back to Takaka we went. Jenny and Barry were still there as Barry had to go to the doctors. He’d not been feeling well, so Mike gave him his blood pressure monitor to check it. It was very high. So he went to the chemist in Takaka who told him to go to the doctors. He’d already decided to double his dose and by the time he got to the doctor it had lowered to a safer level.

After that we headed up to farewell spit. They didn’t allow dogs, so we just pulled up, took a photo, decided it looked boring and smelled like rotting seaweed, and left. Some Aussies we met said we must to to Wharariki beach as it was beautiful. So we followed another gravel road. But when we got there the overflow carpark was overflowing, and in my experience, if there are that many people, it takes away from any beauty. And it’s just another beach. So we abandoned that walk as well.

But all was not bad. We found the perfect campspot at the back of a farmers farm, overlooking the ocean and the spit. It was another NZMCA Park over property and was free. And only a handful of motorhomes there. A perfect end to a not so perfect day